Ford V-10 mods

WE3ZS wrote:
I agree on the 5Star tuner helping the trans more than the motor, however the motor does see some increases in performance with it. Someone earlier mentioned some performance mods might not be worth it, I don't know how to equate my happiness with a better running/towing truck vs money spent, it's not like I'm trying to "get my money back out of the mods", I'm modding to make the truck better at what it does, and that happens to be towing!
The V-10 likes to rev, that's where it makes good power/torque, with this in mind it seems that these motors matched up with an effective gear ratio in the 4.30 range work very well when towing heavy (even deeper gears of 4.56 or 4.88 depending how heavy we are talking....).
I run 4.88 gears with 35.28" tall tires for an effective ratio of 4.39 (up from the stock 3.73s) and that gear change was the largest single performance increase I've done to my EX. The tuner and headers were also great additions and had about equal sized improvements. All three added together makes the rig feel like a different vehicle all together!
As an example of what the necked down factory Y pipe looks like here is a pic of my stock Y pipe (T pipe actually) and the new unit that came with my Banks headers.

As you can see the new Y pipe is a much free-er flowing piece. More breathing freedom can be seen here comparing the stock exhaust manifolds to the new headers.

Prior to these three mods (as well as all new suspension) the rig logged a couple of trips over the same route, pulling the same load (31' toyhauler at 9,500 lbs) at the same speeds and netted 6 to 7.5 MPG. And would downshift out of OD if I ran over a shadow on the highway. After the mods over the same route, same load, same speeds MPGs improved to 9 MPG and it stayed in OD the entire highway portion of a trip home to Philly from Savannah GA on I-95. Last year we upgraded to a new TT that is 41' and 12,000+/- lbs and the mileage continues to be consistently 8.5 to 9 MPG with a best single trip of 9.25 MPG. Will the mods ever pay for themselves? I doubt it. Do the mods make for a much more enjoyable towing experience? You bet!

X infinity! LOL

It really does make that big a difference!

I agree on the 5Star tuner helping the trans more than the motor, however the motor does see some increases in performance with it. Someone earlier mentioned some performance mods might not be worth it, I don't know how to equate my happiness with a better running/towing truck vs money spent, it's not like I'm trying to "get my money back out of the mods", I'm modding to make the truck better at what it does, and that happens to be towing!
The V-10 likes to rev, that's where it makes good power/torque, with this in mind it seems that these motors matched up with an effective gear ratio in the 4.30 range work very well when towing heavy (even deeper gears of 4.56 or 4.88 depending how heavy we are talking....).
I run 4.88 gears with 35.28" tall tires for an effective ratio of 4.39 (up from the stock 3.73s) and that gear change was the largest single performance increase I've done to my EX. The tuner and headers were also great additions and had about equal sized improvements. All three added together makes the rig feel like a different vehicle all together!
As an example of what the necked down factory Y pipe looks like here is a pic of my stock Y pipe (T pipe actually) and the new unit that came with my Banks headers.

As you can see the new Y pipe is a much free-er flowing piece. More breathing freedom can be seen here comparing the stock exhaust manifolds to the new headers.

Prior to these three mods (as well as all new suspension) the rig logged a couple of trips over the same route, pulling the same load (31' toyhauler at 9,500 lbs) at the same speeds and netted 6 to 7.5 MPG. And would downshift out of OD if I ran over a shadow on the highway. After the mods over the same route, same load, same speeds MPGs improved to 9 MPG and it stayed in OD the entire highway portion of a trip home to Philly from Savannah GA on I-95. Last year we upgraded to a new TT that is 41' and 12,000+/- lbs and the mileage continues to be consistently 8.5 to 9 MPG with a best single trip of 9.25 MPG. Will the mods ever pay for themselves? I doubt it. Do the mods make for a much more enjoyable towing experience? You bet!

In my X I run 5W20 in the winter and 5w30 in the summer. I ran 5W20 once while towing. The next day it rattles on start up for 3 seconds while pumping oil up into the motor. With 5W30 it never does this. Yes the tuner will work with the 5 speed, but you'll only gain power and a little bit of mileage with it. The real seller is the improved shift programming with the auto.

BTW, after I got rid of the stock Y-pipe I have no flutter that they talked about. I gained .5 mpg while towing with the tuner and Y-pipe.

colliehauler wrote:
The truck I bought has the 5sp manual transmission.

V10 with a 5 speed manual? That sounds great.

valhalla360 wrote:
Haven't had power issues so haven't bothered.

It's not about just power the restriction on the Y-pipe also effect mpg. I just didn't know if the 2000's had the restricted Y- pipe.

dodge guy wrote:
99`s had a different Y-pipe. ford choked down the Y-pipe on 01-05 2 valves. I highly recommend the Y-pipe and a tuner from 5 star tuning. the tuner is well worth it for the trans shift improvements alone! once you drive a V-10 with a tuner with the "tow tune" you will wonder what Ford was thinking when they programmed in their trans shift program.

Very glad I did it, and so are very many others!

The truck I bought has the 5sp manual transmission. So the 2000 may/may not have the restricted Y-pipe? Will the 5 star tuner work with a manual?

I fly down to pick up the truck Saturday.

The 2000's don't get the flutter as far as I know.

5w-20 is fine if you stay within its rated loads. With the miles I have (401,000) I run heavier oil in the summer, either 5w30 or preferably 0w-40 (0w40 has about the same "cold" viscosity in typical NW temps). 0W-40 give me the lowest oil consumption (~1 qt/3,000 miles vs 2,000 miles with 5w20) combined with the smoothest startup. 5w30 gives just a little more growl in cold weather. I'm running 5W20 right now since I'm sure I'll need another oil change before spring, and with my commute right now I don't want to push the oil change intervals. If I'm primarily towing, and running the good stuff, I'll go as far as 12,000 miles between changes.

Haven't had power issues so haven't bothered.

My understanding is Ford went to a 1.5 inch connection for the exhaust coming out of each bank. The Y pipe gets rid of this restriction and gives better mpg.

Do the 2000's have this restriction? My understanding is Ford did this to eliminate exhaust flutter.

The other question is what oil? I see they recommend 5w-20. This seems very light for towing.

K Charles wrote:
If there was an easy way to make it better ford would have done it.

I disagree. Ford also has a price point to meet. Also, Ford did make many changes in '05.

I've done the full Banks PowerPack, along with an AFE intake and Predator tuner. If it were out at the time, I would have gone with a 5-star tuner instead, but the Predator works fine with some custom tuning.

Compared with a stock V10 at the same weight, I can typically climb in a full gear higher, and theres not an Interstate grade I can't pull at the speed limit at a full load. By brother has a stock v10 in his, and on steeper climbs I'm going about 20 MPH faster, as the same weight.

That said, I have the 2-valve V10. The 3-valve V10 won't gain much from headers, but there's still some gains that can be made with a cat-back, intake and programming.